Letter: Congressman AWOL on health care

Representative Scott Tipton’s assurance (July 24) that Colorado vets “will have access to the care they deserve” for their medical issues is admirable. Apart from that group, however, he has done a terrible job of addressing the health concerns of his constituents here in the 3rd Congressional District. “Better health care with more options at a lower price” was what Scott repeatedly promised us on his website as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act he voted to gut. What he has provided is the opposite. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the changes he supported could increase the number of Americans without health coverage by 13 million within a decade and cause premiums on the individual market to rise 10 percent per year. Scott’s behavior is even more troubling given the demographics of our district. The Colorado Health Institute reports that our district has the greatest number of counties with high Medicaid enrollment and has the highest level of uninsured people. He does not seem to understand, or care, that his partisan stance on health care will have a profoundly negative impact on his constituents. The 2018 federal budget that Scott voted for also weakened health coverage for Coloradans. The ultra-conservative Americans For Prosperity labeled this GOP boondoggle as “the worst spending bill in our country’s history” (Emily Seidel, CEO-AFP, July 29). It will trigger $400 billion in automatic cuts to Medicare in the next ten years (Congressional Budget Office, 2018) and will reduce benefits for all enrolled. Scott either didn’t read that finance bill or he didn’t understand the negative implications for our health care. It is time for Scott to actually enact the “better health care/more options/lower price” program that he promised in his slick brochures. He can start by explaining the “market-based solutions” he is so enamored with. We would benefit much more from those than from the empty political bromides he has provided so far. Cliff Colia Glenwood Springs